An example of one type of adhesive tape roll packed in a dispenser package comprises a group of adhesive articles supported on a carrier web. A known construction used to package rolls of this product is a so-called "blister pack" consisting of a thermoformed plastic element having a peripheral flange that is joined to a flat base element typically made of chipboard. The plastic element is formed to include a housing section in which a roll is stored and an exit portion through which the carrier web is led and thereafter bent around an edge of the base element so that an adhesive article will separate from the carrier web; the adhesive article is then removed from the carrier web and applied to an object. Especially useful packages of this type are disclosed in the following patents assigned to the assignee of the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,086, Adhesive Tape Dispenser Package; U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,962, Tape Dispenser Package With Roll Restraining Friction Disc; U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,259, Tape Dispenser Package With Restraining Covers; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,729, Tape Dispenser Package With Core Friction Ring.
Packages made according to one or more of the above patents have been commercially successful and have proved effective. However, we have become aware of certain limitations of the blister-pack construction which have led us to perceive of the need to devise an improved package. For example, the plastic element cannot be separated from the chipboard base element without destroying the package; this prevents the roll of tape product stored in the package from being checked without destroying the package, and makes it impossible to reuse the package for additional rolls of product once the first roll packed therein has been exhausted. Also, the adhesive tape is dispensed from the package by drawing it against an edge of the base element; the chipboard base element can wear down or tear during extended use, and such damage can prevent dispensing the entire length of a long roll of tape stored in the package. Thirdly, the blister-pack consists of two separate elements, thereby resulting in inventory problems, particularly since the chipboard base element is typically printed with graphic and informational material that can vary from product to product or customer to customer. Another difficulty is that the special equipment and techniques needed for the final packaging of the blister-pack style of package often will require that the packaging be done by a specialist company other than the manufacturer of the adhesive products to be stored in the package. There is an added problem in that each package must be tailored to the specific article or size of article to be carried therein, so that the manufacturer of the adhesive products can often find it difficult to carry a stock inventory in the absence of orders from specific customers. Our analysis of these and other problems associated with the blister-pack package was the impetus for our development of the package which is about to be described. The principal objects of the present invention were to develop a new package suitable for storing a roll of adhesive tape that would obviate the foregoing and other disadvantageous characteristics of the blister pack style of package and to provide suitable specific package constructions.